Why Product Management's Org Placement Shapes Its Success
CIO, Thursday, October 8th, 2026
Product management placed under one business unit narrows its priorities; it needs independence to serve the whole organization.
A CIO.com author with experience from trillion-dollar enterprises to startups argues that where product management sits matters as much as who is hired and how they are trained.
Smaller firms under pressure for quick technology results often place a new product function under the most influential business unit head, creating a new inefficiency by narrowing the team's priorities.
'Placement eats good intentions for lunch,' the author writes, urging independence so product teams work for the whole organization.